The Gibsland PossePhoto byPublic Domain

Frank A. Hamer joined the Rangers in 1906 and served as a captain until he retired in 1932. He retained his commission as a Ranger. In 1934, Hamer became a special investigator for the Texas prison system. He was hired to hunt down Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were the best-known outlaws taken down by the Texas Rangers, according to the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame.

Photo byPublic Domain

On May 23, 1934, Hamer and posse ambushed Bonnie and Clyde in rural Louisiana near Arcadia. The posse included Hamer, Sheriff Henderson Jordan, and four law officers from three agencies. Four of the men were former Texas Rangers. One man, Sheriff Henderson Jordan, was involved as the ambush was in his jurisdiction. The ambush was well-planned and included help from the Methvin family. -From the FBI files, known as the Bureau of Investigation in 1934.

Early in 1934, the Barrow gang helped prisoner and fellow gang member Joe Palmer escape the Eastham Prison Farm. During the Houston County escape, the gang killed a guard.

Photo byEastham Prison Farm via Pinterest

To end Bonnie and Clyde’s crime spree, Col. Lee Simmons, head of the Texas prison system, asked Hamer, a retired Ranger, to bring them to justice.

By May 1934, Clyde Barrow had 16 outstanding warrants against him from four states. The warrants included murder, car theft, assault, theft, robbery, and escape.

Hamer started to track the Barrow gang in mid-February. Hamer led the posse and studied the gang’s movements. https://freerangeamerican.us/frank-hamer/ tried to predict their movements.

The gang skirted the edges of five mid-western states. Barrow cleverly used the state-line rule, which prevented law enforcement officers from following a fugitive into another state.

Hamer pursued them across nine states before catching up with them in Louisiana. The gang eventually established a pattern that focused on family visits. While in Louisiana, the gang intended to see Henry Methvin’s family.

Photo byCole Farm via Public Domain

Bonnie and Clyde had many accomplices over the two years they were active as outlaws. Methvin was a Depression-era outlaw and member of Barrow’s gang. Barrow’s other known accomplices were W.D. Jones, Blanche Barrow, Marvin “Buck” Barrow, and Cumie Barrow, Clyde’s mother.

In 1934, Clyde left Methvin at the Majestic Cafe in Louisiana. Methvin was arrested for leaving the cafe without paying.

Frank Hamer was unaware that Barrow designated the home of Methvin’s parents in Bienville Parish as a meeting place in case the gang was separated. The gang often used the Cole Ranch home as a hideout without the property owner’s permission.

Hamer’s posse consisted of six men: Texas officers Hamer, Ted Hinton, Bob Alcorn, Maney Gault, Henderson Jordan, and Prentiss Morel Oakley. Jordan and Oakley were Louisiana lawmen.

Several days before the ambush, Hamer, Hinton, Alcorn, and Gault learned that Barrow and Parker planned to visit Ivy Methvin in Bienville Parish. They were acting on a tip.

Most likely, Ivey Methvin made a deal to hand over Bonnie and Clyde in trade for a pardon to avoid Henry Methvin’s prosecution for crimes in Texas. The deal was meant to keep Henry Methvin out of prison. Planning involved Hamer, Lee Simmons, Ivey Methvin, and others. Governors from Louisiana and Texas both signed off on the ambush plan.

With the help of local law enforcement, the Rangers set up their ambush between Gibsland and Sailes on the evening of May 22.

After twelve hours, Bonnie and Clyde were nowhere to be seen. The Rangers thought their ambush was a failure. At 9:15 a.m. on the 23rd, the posse, still concealed in the bushes and almost ready to give up, heard a vehicle approaching at high speed. It was the stolen ’32 Ford V8 with Barrow at the wheel. Barrow spotted a truck on the road. Thinking it was Methvin, he slowed down and pulled to the side of the road. [7]

Photo byPublic Domain

Their plan worked. To keep Methvin out of harm’s way, the posse handcuffed him to a tree in the brush.

The six lawmen opened fire while the car was still moving. The loud gunfire deafened the posse for the rest of the afternoon.

Prentiss Morel Oakley fired first. Barrow died instantly from a shot to the head. The officers emptied each of their weapons into the car, firing 130 rounds. Hinton reported hearing Parker scream. [8]

Deputy DB Rogers with guns from Barrow's carPhoto byPublic Domain

As the outlaws’ car approached, the posse opened fire, spraying the vehicle with more than 150 bullets and killing Bonnie and Clyde. The two had as many as fifty bullet holes each. One shot severed Barrow’s spinal column.

We opened fire with the automatic rifles. They were emptied before the car got even with us. Then we used shotguns. Smoke was coming from the vehicle, and it looked like it was on fire. After shooting the shotguns, we emptied the pistols at the car, which had passed us, and ran into a ditch about 50 yards on down the road. It almost turned over. We kept shooting at the car even after it stopped. We weren’t taking any chances. - Posse Member Ted Hinton

The ambush showed 112 bullet holes in the vehicle, many of which struck the couple, according to deputy’s film footage taken immediately after the ambush.

I experienced difficulty in embalming the bodies due to the bullet holes. - Undertaker C. F. Bailey

The deafened officers inspected the vehicle. Discovered were stolen automatic rifles, assorted handguns, several thousand rounds of ammunition, and sawed-off semi-automatic shotguns. Also in the car were fifteen sets of license plates from various states. [9]

Prentiss Oakley posing with plates recovered from Barrow's carPhoto byPinterest

Word of the deaths quickly spread when Hamer and the posse drove into town to telephone their bosses. [10]

I hate to bust the cap on a woman, especially when she is sitting down; however, if it wouldn’t have been her, it would have been us. - Posse Leader Frank Hamer commenting on the ambush.

According to statements by Dallas County Sheriff’s Deputies, a large, raucous crowd gathered in Arcadia. Within hours, the population swelled from 2,000 to 12,000. People arrived by train, horseback, carriage, and plane. Beer prices nearly doubled, and sandwiches sold out quickly.

Gault and Alcorn guarded the bodies but lost control of the jostling, curious throng. A woman cut off the bloody locks of Parker’s hair and pieces from her dress. The items were later sold to souvenir hunters.

Clyde's childhood home in Dallas TexasPhoto byPhoto by Robin Hollenkamp via Pinterest

Hinton was sickened by what was occurring and even stopped a man trying to cut off Barrow’s trigger finger.

Nearly everyone had begun collecting souvenirs such as shell casings, slivers of glass from the shattered car windows, and bloody pieces of clothing from the garments of Bonnie and Clyde. One eager man had opened his pocket knife and was reaching into the car to cut off Clyde’s left ear. - Parish Coroner J. L. Wade

According to FBI files, the posse towed the Ford to downtown Arcadia and stopped at the Conger Furniture Store & Funeral Parlor. The dead bodies were still inside the car.

Henry Barrow identified his son’s body and sat weeping in a chair in the furniture section.

Photo byPublic Domain

H.D. Darby, an undertaker at the McClure Funeral Parlor, and Sophia Stone, a home demonstration agent, came to Arcadia to identify the bodies as the Barrow gang had kidnapped them in 1933.

Bailey did preliminary embalming in the back of the furniture store. Furniture stores and undertakers often shared the same space.

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission reported that The United States Congress Hamer was awarded a special citation for killing Bonnie and Clyde.

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Cheers! Thanks for reading and leaving your fascinating comments. - dp

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Douglas Pilarski is an award-winning Writer & Journalist based in Las Vegas. He writes about luxury goods, exotic cars, horology, tech, food, lifestyle, and business.

You’re welcome to share your thoughts or tell me your story. Please email me here. dp1@sawyertms.com

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